Joint workshop on response with US Department of Energy

Joint workshop on response with US Department of Energy

The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA), together with the United States Department of Energy, organised a workshop on the response physical protection function, between 12 and 14 September, 2023 in Budapest. During the event participants were afforded an opportunity to gain an insight into the evaluation of response and the characteristics of the different types of nuclear security exercises.

Participants of the workshop consisted of representatives of the HAEA, the National Police Headquarters and the Counter Terrorism Centre, the experts of the nuclear facilities, radioactive waste storage sites and commanding staff of these sites’ Armed Security Officers. Through lectures the U.S. instructors presented the basics of the performance evaluation of the response forces, the organisation of performance based or Force-on-Force exercises and the different ways of executing Table Top Exercises.

Following the interactive presentations, the participants prepared for the execution of a Table Top Exercise on a model nuclear facility, planning the actions of the response forces and the adversaries. To conduct the exercise, unlike in the previous national practice, the participants used software support.

Based on their feedback, the participants considered the workshop useful and made a number of suggestions for future events. In the future, the HAEA will to hold similar training and events for domestic nuclear protection specialists on a variety of topics, building on more than a decade of cooperation with the US partner.